optima battery/alternator

[dennisinmaryland]

According to my new battery charger, my alternator is dead and the battery won't hold a charge.
2 questions......I want to go to an Optima battery for my 67 427/400 a/c coupe. Should I go red or yellow top?

Also, since my alternator is date coded, does anyone know of a rebuild shop or do I have to order a new date coded alt from Corvette Central or Zip?
Thanks for any and all help, guys.

See, Barry....it's like they say, if it has teats or tires, it's gonna give you trouble.

 

[ctjackster]

alt rebuild - Pirkle is one one of the best, although he is busy because of that. You might have a month or more down time, what I would do is drop in a proper no frills replacement while having yours done. Pirkle's info can be found here, best to call hm rather than email: http://www.johnpirkle.com/ I have a properly-dated alt from him in my 65 right now, it is a work of art and performs very well.

As for the Optima, for your main battery I would go with a red top, have one such in mine right now. (I say main because in a two battery set up like I have in my Avalanche, a yellow top is a good choice for an accessory battery).

 

[BarryK]

Yeah!! like you are telling me somethinng I haven't learned for myself already!
LOL

 

[BarryK]

Dennis

go for the redtop battery. it's designed for starter applications.
The yellow top is a deep cycle type battery and while it will work, it's best for times that someone needs a battery that will last longer while using it without it being charged while it's being used - such as running a stereo system for a while with the car off, etc. The yellow top also makes a good type of battery for multiple battery applications like Ct said. When I was in the car-audio industry years ago we used to install extremely high-end audio systems in cars. The high power requirements of multiple amps required that we install accessory batteries. Because the stereo amps would draw so much current so quickly the deep cycle batteries were needed. we also installed HUGE capacitors as they will delivery current to the amps REAL FAST when the amps needed it but that's another issue. These deep cycle batteries are designed to be able to run a somewhat extended period of time, lose a large amount of their overall charge, and than be recharged again without damage to the battery. A "regular" battery doesn't like to be discharged deeply very often before it sustains damage to itself and it will never deliver the same amount of amperage and eventually voltage again.
On your car, you only need a high amperage battery to be able to run the starter motor well (as long as you don't plan on running electrial accessories with the car off for extended periods of time). As soon as the car starts, the alternator will recharge the small amount of drain the started motor used from the battery and you're fine.

 

[JohnZ]

Few things are as simple as rebulding an alternator; about all they ever need is a cleanup and a diode trio. Look in the Yellow Pages and take it to any local "Starter/Generator" rebuild shop - they can do it in less than an hour. Just make sure they know it's a dated piece, and you want the same cases, guts, and pulley/fan back. Pirkle does terrific work (my judged cars are full of Pirkle stuff), but unless you want them appearance/texture-perfect with dated diodes, any competent local shop can give you an excellent rebuild.